Ecological drivers of fine-scale distribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a semiarid Mediterranean scrubland.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi enhance the uptake of water and minerals to the plant hosts, alleviating plant stress. Therefore, AM fungal-plant interactions are particularly important in drylands and other stressful ecosystems. We aimed to determine the combined and independent effects of above- and belowground plant community attributes (i.e. diversity and composition), soil heterogeneity and spatial covariates on the spatial structure of the AM fungal communities in a semiarid Mediterranean scrubland. Furthermore, we evaluated how the phylogenetic relatedness of both plants and AM fungi shapes these symbiotic relationships.

METHODS: We taxonomically and phylogenetically characterised the composition and diversity of AM fungal and plant communities in a dry Mediterranean scrubland, using DNA metabarcoding and spatially-explicit sampling design at the plant neighbourhood scale.

KEY RESULTS: The above- and belowground plant community attributes, soil physicochemical properties and spatial variables explained unique fractions of AM fungal diversity and composition. Mainly, variations in plant composition affected the AM fungal composition and diversity. Our results also showed that particular AM fungal taxa tended to be associated with closely related plant species, suggesting the existence of phylogenetic signal. Although soil texture, fertility and pH affected AM fungal community assembly, spatial factors had a greater influence on AM fungal community composition and diversity than soil physicochemical properties.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight that the more easily accessible aboveground vegetation is a reliable indicator of the linkages between plant roots and AM fungi. We also emphasize the importance of soil physicochemical properties as well as belowground plant information, while accounting for the phylogenetic relationships of both plants and fungi since these factors improve our ability to predict the relationships between AM fungal and plant communities.